Santiago - a city sight seeing day

Pisco Sour - national drink is really like Limoncello. Quite delicious... Enjoyable meal last night and a chance to get to know more of our crew. There are 20 of us on thr tour + lovely Terri our guide.

  This morning we had a leisurely pick up at 9:30. Very little traffic as Sunday is quiet and largely for family time here with most shops shut. They also close one of the long central avenues by the river every Sunday for cycling. So many people on bikes -from racing to Mums and Dads out with kids. .super idea.

Above is a Franciscian Cloister - one of the oldest pre colonial buildings in the city. Made of stone and a kind of paste that seems to hold up well in earthquakes.  Below is the main government building. It used to house the mint hence it's name La Moneda ( not " the government building") lol.

The Museum of Pre-Colombian art was a treasure. Very modern and well set out, it is the site for much conservation work in this area. My fav 2 pieces are below : Quipu was an ancient method for recording information consisting of variously coloured threads knotted in different ways. This is the best example in existence. They are not sure exactly what they said but think they are a record of births, deaths, crop success, visitors to villages etc.

And the pottery was very sophisticated. these. Amazing civilisations did not use the wheel - no evidence at all, however their pottery, jellery and metal ware were amazing, as were the textiles and dying processes,

Lovely 3 course lunch at Villa Real and a snooze for most on the way to our next destination. This side road also closed for cyclists.

 An example of some of the downtown buildings. Slum areas and dwellings made from discarded junk and rubbish are prevalent too as are the seemingly stray dogs and cats - although they appear well fed.

Our final stop for the day was in the Las Condes district. It is the church of the Apoquitndo run by the order of the Dominicans. The church grounds and grounds are closed and private but there is a maze of small shops and craft galleries. Spent a coupe of hours wandering around. Apparently there is an avocado tree in the church grounds that is over 400 years old.